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Communications

Airports [time series]

143 total, 138 usable; 88 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 35 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 42 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

132 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

294,410 km total; autostrada 5,900 km, state highways 45,170 km, provincial highways 101,680 km, communal highways 141,660 km; 260,500 km concrete, bituminous, or stone block, 26,900 km gravel and crushed stone, 7,010 km earth

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

2,400 km for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value

Merchant marine [time series]

547 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,871,505 GRT/10,805,368 DWT; includes 6 passenger, 41 short-sea passenger, 100 cargo, 5 refrigerated cargo, 22 container, 72 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 4 vehicle carrier, 1 multifunction large-load carrier, 2 livestock carrier, 147 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 37 chemical tanker, 29 liquefied gas, 8 specialized tanker, 16 combination ore/oil, 55 bulk, 2 combination bulk

Pipelines [time series]

crude oil, 1,703 km; refined products, 2,148 km; natural gas, 19,400 km

Ports [time series]

Cagliari (Sardinia), Genoa, La Spezia, Livorno, Naples, Palermo (Sicily), Taranto, Trieste, Venice

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

20,011 km total; 16,066 km 1.435-meter government-owned standard gauge (8,999 km electrified); 3,945 km privately owned--2,100 km 1.435-meter standard gauge (1,155 km electrified) and 1,845 km 0.950-meter narrow gauge (380 km electrified)

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

well engineered, constructed, and operated; 28,000,000 telephones; stations--144 AM, 54 (over 1,800 repeaters) FM, 135 (over 1,300 repeaters) TV; 22 submarine cables; communication satellite earth stations operating in INTELSAT 3 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean, INMARSAT, and EUTELSAT systems

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Navy, Air Force

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

2.4% of GDP, or $19 billion (1989 est.)

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 14,721,704; 12,855,022 fit for military service; 430,782 reach military age (18) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for about 5% of GNP and 5% of the work force; self-sufficient in foods other than meat and dairy products; principal crops--fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; fish catch of 554,000 metric tons in 1987

Aid [time series]

donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $18.7 billion

Budget [time series]

revenues $355 billion; expenditures $448 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

Italian lira (plural--lire); 1 Italian lira (Lit) = 100 centesimi

Electricity [time series]

56,022,000 kW capacity; 201,400 million kWh produced, 3,500 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

Italian lire (Lit) per US$1--1,262.5 (January 1990), 1,372.1 (1989), 1,301.6 (1988), 1,296.1 (1987), 1,490.8 (1986), 1,909.4 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$141.6 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--textiles, wearing apparel, metals, transportation equipment, chemicals; partners--EC 57%, US 9%, OPEC 4%

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$803.3 billion, per capita $14,000; real growth rate 3.3% (1989 est.)

Imports [time series]

$143.1 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities--petroleum, industrial machinery, chemicals, metals, food, agricultural products; partners--EC 57%, OPEC 6%, US 6%

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 2.9% (1989)

Industries [time series]

machinery and transportation equipment, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

6.6% (1989 est.)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Since World War II the economy has changed from one based on agriculture into a ranking industrial economy, with approximately the same total and per capita output as France and the UK. The country is still divided into a developed industrial north, dominated by large private companies and state enterprises and an undeveloped agricultural south. Services account for 58% of GDP, industry 37%, and agriculture 5%. Most raw materials needed by industry and over 75% of energy requirements must be imported. The economic recovery that began in mid-1983 has continued through 1989, with the economy growing at an annual average rate of 3%. For the 1990s, Italy faces the problems of refurbishing a tottering communications system, curbing the increasing pollution in major industrial centers, and adjusting to the new competitive forces accompanying the ongoing economic integration of the European Community.

Unemployment rate [time series]

11.9% (1989)

Geography

Climate [time series]

predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south

Coastline [time series]

4,996 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Arizona

Continental shelf [time series]

200 m or to depth of exploitation;

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

South Tyrol question with Austria

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

regional risks include landslides, mudflows, snowslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, pollution; land sinkage in Venice

Land boundaries [time series]

1,902.2 km total; Austria 430 km, France 488 km, San Marino 39 km, Switzerland 740 km, Vatican City 3.2 km, Yugoslavia 202 km

Land use [time series]

32% arable land; 10% permanent crops; 17% meadows and pastures; 22% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes 10% irrigated

Natural resources [time series]

mercury, potash, marble, sulfur, dwindling natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, coal

Note [time series]

strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe

Terrain [time series]

mostly rugged and mountainous; some plains, coastal lowlands

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

301,230 km2; land area: 294,020 km2; includes Sardinia and Sicily

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

20 regions (regioni, singular--regione); Abruzzi, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Sardegna, Sicilia, Toscana, Trentino-Alto Adige, Umbria, Valle d'Aosta, Veneto

Capital [time series]

Rome

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

1,673,751 members (1983)

Constitution [time series]

1 January 1948

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador Rinaldo PETRIGNANI; Chancery at 1601 Fuller Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 328-5500; there are Italian Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Houston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Consulates in Detroit and Newark (New Jersey); US--Ambassador Peter F. SECCHIA; Embassy at Via Veneto 119/A, 00187-Rome (mailing address is APO New York 09794); telephone [39] (6) 46741; there are US Consulates General in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, and Palermo (Sicily)

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister,

Flag [time series]

three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and red; similar to the flag of Ireland which is longer and is green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to the flag of the Ivory Coast which has the colors reversed--orange (hoist side), white, and green

Independence [time series]

17 March 1861, Kingdom of Italy proclaimed

Judicial branch [time series]

Constitutional Court (Corte Costituzionale) Chief of State--President Francesco COSSIGA (since 3 July 1985); Head of Government--Prime Minister Giulio ANDREOTTI (since 22 July 1989, heads the government for the sixth time); Deputy Prime Minister Claudio MARTELLI (since 23 July 1989)

Legal system [time series]

based on civil law system, with ecclesiastical law influence; judicial review under certain conditions in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch [time series]

bicameral Parliament (Parlamento) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senato) and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Italian Republic

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ADB, ASSIMER, CCC, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECOWAS, EIB, EMS, ESA, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IEA, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOOC, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

National holiday [time series]

Anniversary of the Republic, 2 June (1946)

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

Vatican City; three major trade union confederations (CGIL--Communist dominated, CISL--Christian Democratic, and UIL--Social Democratic, Socialist, and Republican); Italian manufacturers association (Confindustria); organized farm groups (Confcoltivatori, Confagricoltura)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

Christian Democratic Party (DC), Arnaldo Forlani (general secretary), Ciriaco De Mita (president); Communist Party (PCI), Achille Occhetto (secretary general); Socialist Party (PSI), Bettino Craxi (party secretary); Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Antonio Cariglia (party secretary); Liberal Party (PLI), Renato Altissimo (secretary general); Italian Social Movement (MSI), Giuseppe (Pino) Rauti (national secretary); Republican Party (PRI), Giorgio La Malfa (political secretary); Italy's 49th postwar government was formed on 23 July 1989, with Prime Minister Andreotti, a Christian Democrat, presiding over a five-party coalition consisting of the Christian Democrats, Socialists, Social Democrats, Republicans, and Liberals

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18 (except in senatorial elections, where minimum age is 25) Senate--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992); results--DC 33.9%, PCI 28.3%, PSI 10.7%, others 27.1%; seats--(320 total, 315 elected) DC 125, PCI 100, PSI 36, others 54; Chamber of Deputies--last held 14-15 June 1987 (next to be held by June 1992); results--DC 34.3%, PCI 26.6%, PSI 14.3%, MSI 5.9%, PRI 3.7%, PSDI 3.0%, Radicals 2.6%, Greens 2.5%, PLI 2.1%, Proletarian Democrats 1.7%, others 3.3%; seats--(630 total) DC 234, PCI 177, PSI 94, MSI 35, PRI 21, PSDI 17, Radicals 13, Greens 13, PLI 11, Proletarian Democrats 8, others 7

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

People

Birth rate [time series]

10 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

primarily Italian but population includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians in the south; Sicilians; Sardinians

Infant mortality rate [time series]

6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

23,670,000; 56.7% services, 37.9% industry, 5.4% agriculture (1987)

Languages (Language) [time series]

Italian; parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking; significant French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region; Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

74 years male, 81 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

93%

Nationality [time series]

noun--Italian(s); adjective--Italian

Net migration rate [time series]

1 migrant/1,000 population (1990)

Organized labor [time series]

40-45% of labor force (est.)

Population [time series]

57,664,405 (July 1990), growth rate 0.2% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

almost 100% nominally Roman Catholic

Total fertility rate [time series]

1.4 children born/woman (1990)